Mistletoe and Kisses
by PT21
Summary: Another old Earth tradition gives Will the perfect excuse to kick start his and Deanna's stalled relationship. Updated


MISTLETOE AND KISSES

By Carol Sandford

Guinan had gone all out with the decorations in Ten forward this year. Tiny lights sparkled across the ceiling, having done away with the lights, replacing them with hundreds of tiny candles, which set the lights off to perfection. It looked like she had managed to bring the stars indoors and it was breathtakingly beautiful.

A huge tree dominated one corner of the lounge, its branches laden with silver and blue baubles with endless miles of multi-coloured tinsel circled around it like a helter-skelter, and on the top, a star. And quietly in the background old Earth Christmas Carol's played.

Guinan looked around her and was pleased with her creation. It had taken hours of studying old Earth customs for a traditional Christmas party, and even longer for the replicator to get everything she needed just right. She had found a recipe for an old English punch that she couldn't resist regularly dipping her little finger in to sample, chuckling to herself with glee. And then she looked up at the ceiling above the bar and her chuckle turned to an excited giggle, "I can't wait for tonight!"

Everyone was in the ready room discussing the day's events until Picard stopped mid-sentence when he heard the unusual hail; "Guinan to Captain Picard."

The captain looked around his senior crew with mild surprise and they mirrored the look back. This was unusual. "Yes, Guinan, what can I do for you?"

"You can bring yourself and your officers to a party at my place tonight, casual wear only. Merry Christmas."

Now they really were surprised, everyone except Worf who grumbled, "What is that woman up to now? I hate surprises."

Deanna grinned at him. "Oh, Worf, don't be such a grouch, it IS Christmas Eve."

He grunted his response. "Christmas means nothing to Klingons, so I shall not go."

Beverly groaned at him. "Oh, Worf, it's only a party, Deanna's not from Earth but she's going. Data's not from..." She stumbled before beaming at the android in question. "Well, you're going, aren't you Data?"

The android nodded enthusiastically. "Certainly, doctor. I am looking forward to experiencing the Earth tradition of Christmas."

Beverly beamed at each and every one of her fellow officers. "Right, that's settled, we're all going."

Later, Guinan was standing at the Ten Forward door to greet everyone as they came in. Her enigmatic smile was radiant at seeing everyone, especially those who didn't normally celebrate the seasonal holiday. "Merry Christmas, everyone. Welcome to my very own grotto. Grab yourself a drink."

The girl's gasped with pleasure as they looked around the lounge taking in the lights and the candles and they both rushed over to the tree to gently touch and admire the pretty trimmings that adorned it. This was all so new to Deanna and Beverly was as excited as she just watching the animation upon her face.

The men smiled indulgently at the women and headed over to the bar. The waiter was already ladling the punch into large glasses.

Guinan managed to catch Will's eye and silently beckoned him over. When he reached her, she pulled his arm down so that he had to lower his head to hear her low murmur. "Do you remember the old custom of kissing under the mistletoe, Commander?"

Will grinned widely at her, his eyes lighting up at the thought and the long past distant memories. "I sure do. Damn, those were good times."

She beamed with pleasure and after checking that no one was looking she gestured for Will to look up towards the ceiling. He did so and then smiled at her, his eyes widening as he suddenly realised the possibilities that were unfolding before him.

Guinan whispered quietly to a beaming Will, "I thought it would be a good idea to introduce the counsellor to another one of Earth's traditions. What do you say, Commander?"

He chuckled quietly and he rubbed his hands together with anticipation. "O, this should be fun. I think it's time to get this party underway, don't you?"

Still grinning he walked away from Guinan and headed towards Deanna, his stride now purposeful. "Counsellor," he said, snagging her arm and pulling her away from the tree and her companion. "Come and try some punch."

Deanna laughed at his exuberance but allowed him to pull her away from the tree. "Okay, okay, I'm coming. What's the rush? We've got all night." Her gaze couldn't take it all in. She was in awe of it all. "Isn't this fantastic Will? I've never seen anything like it. Is this what they do every year on Earth?"

He smiled at her enthusiasm, suddenly realising that he was proud to come from a planet that held such wondrous celebrations."Uh huh, yep. Except on Earth there's usually snow. Christmas is not Christmas without snow."

By now, Will had managed to get her seated at the bar and a glass of punch in was pushed into her hand. He chatted happily to her about all the different customs; about his own Christmas's in Alaska with his father, and then going sledding, and then going out to find the perfect pine tree in the forest, cutting it down and dragging it home to decorate.

He remembered getting his first proper grown up Christmas present; a fishing rod, and then that very same afternoon catching his first big fish then taking it home and baking it over the log fire. Deanna loved listening to him, watching his face as he remembered his past.

Craftily, Will kept topping up her glass and before long her eyes began to slightly glaze over. Eventually Deanna rose to visit the ladies and as soon as she had left the lounge, Will went over to the rest of the group who were sitting around the Christmas tree relating their own stories of Christmas's past.

"Listen up everyone, it's time to tease the counsellor," Pointing up, he continued, "See the mistletoe above the bar?"

They all looked up and instant understanding registered, all except for Worf and Data who were momentarily confused at its significance.

"I haven't got time to explain right now so get the others to explain to you, but I want you, Geordie, to go first, okay?" He turned to the dark skinned man. "But don't let her know what's going on. And then you others take a turn, okay? This is going to be a blast!" Will sniggered as he swung away before Deanna came back.

Geordie chuckled already relishing being the first to do 'the dirty deed' to Deanna. "You got it, Commander."

The door hissed open and Deanna came back in. Will met her back at the bar and refilled her glass; already starting to tell her about the time when he got his first bicycle and then when he'd completely got her full attention Geordie casually strolled over, his hand touching her shoulder to capture her attention.

And then as she turned to look at who was beside her, Geordie planted a big kiss on her surprised mouth after saying, "Merry Christmas, Deanna." He grinned before turning away.

Deanna stared after him with shock before quickly glancing back at Will, and then she turned and stared at Geordie's back as he wandered back to his seat. Will pretended that nothing out of the ordinary had happened and carried on with his ramblings as though nothing had happened.

Deanna's mind was racing with a myriad of questions but nobody seemed to be making anything out of the unusual occurrence and eventually, amongst the fog of punch, Deanna pushed the incident to the back of her somewhat half-sozzled head, figuring it was the drink maybe making Geordie a bit flirtatious.

Will carried on telling her about the snow and how he used to go skiing, when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence and looked up as a deep voice broke into the conversation. "Er herm..."

Deanna turned her face to look up into the Captains face which was holding a very enigmatic smile as spoke to her. "A very, Merry Christmas to you, Deanna." And then he too bent and kissed her quickly and lightly on the lips. He winked at Will mischievously as he turned away and headed back towards the table where the others were apparently deep in conversation.

Deanna could only stare open-mouthed at her captain retreating back before eventually turning back to Will, and how Will didn't laugh at the expression upon her stunned face, he'd never knew.

"Did you see that, the captain...he kissed me?" She spluttered.

Will feigned innocence and shrugged half-heartedly at her bemused face. "Must be the punch."

Will smirked as Deanna suddenly picked up her glass and stared into it, expecting to find...well, whatever it was, it obviously wasn't in there and moments later before Deanna got another chance to gather her scattered wits, she felt a sharp tap on her shoulder. Startled, she turned to see Data hovering at her side.

"Excuse me, Counsellor, please may I kiss you?" He asked without a trace of humour.

She swallowed noisily, nodding dumbly at him, unable to do nothing more as his mouth descended to hers. He bent stiffly and planted a rapid, sharp kiss upon her puckered mouth, and after, Data almost stood to attention after as he added an almost military statement. "Thank you. I enjoyed that immensely. Merry Christmas."

Will had to put his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud as he watched Deanna almost fall to pieces in shock but managed to contain himself by the time Deanna turned her questioning, wide-eyed, stunned face back to him. His hands lifted upwards in a, 'beats me' gesture as his face mirrored the same expression as hers.

Slowly, very slowly, Deanna began to realise that a joke was being played on her, especially when she turned and looked at the others who were sitting seemingly and totally oblivious to what was going on over at the bar.

And then she began to get rattled and belligerently called over to the huddled group that sat across the room."Hey, Worf, aren't you going to come and kiss me too?"

Knowing that he wouldn't, purely because he wouldn't have dared, she visibly paled when he stood and walked over to her. Dragging her up off the stool, he roughly grasped her upper arms, lifting her slightly so that her toes were barely touching the floor and ravaged her mouth with a brutal, hard kiss that even shocked him, let alone all those that were watching, their mouths hanging open with shock and surprise.

When Worf finally let her plop back onto her seat, he growled, "Happy Christmas, Deanna." Before stalking away back to his seat, snarling all the way and muttering something about stupid superstitions.

Deanna almost fell off the tall chair, scrabbling for the bar's edge to stop her before she did so. It was then that she heard the faint chuckles behind her that quickly turned to full scaled laughter within moments, and as Deanna looked around at her friends one by one, she knew for sure that she had been set up. Even Guinan was laughing and that in itself was a rare sight to see.

Her eyes finally settled on the man beside her and he was grinning from ear to ear and motioning for her to look up. She did so with puzzlement and asked when she spotted the strange greenery with white berries, "What is it?"

Still smiling, but it was now a smile of tenderness, Will stood and gently took her into his arms and quietly told her as he pulled her against his long body. "It's called mistletoe, Deanna. It's another of old Earth's customs. When you meet someone under the mistletoe you get to kiss them."

He looked intently into her eyes and then slowly lowered his head to hers, his eyes falling shut as he, at last, got to do what he had wanted to do for so long. He had been given the chance to kiss his Imzadi, openly, and freely, and, at last, he'd been given a chance to set things, like their relationship, back on course, like it was supposed to be. And as his lips met hers once more his whispered, "Merry Christmas, Imzadi." was accompanied by Guinan's other surprise of the evening.

Barely moments later they broke apart when they felt something cold lightly falling on them. Looking up to the ceiling with surprise they were startled to see snow, real snow. Guinan had somehow managed to replicate snow in the Ten Forward lounge.

Will looked down at Deanna and smiled with pure happiness as he held her close and thanked the Lord, and Guinan, for giving him everything that he'd ever wanted to make his Christmas magical, and as his fellow elated comrades gathered around the reunited couple, he knew Christmas couldn't get any better than this.


End file.
